Escape from the Hall of the Mountain King – Aaron's Tale
by Valantha
Summary: "What did you do?" Charlie asked him with a voice laden with awe. "I don't know, maybe saved hundreds of thousands of lives, maybe nothing; I turned the power off again." Aaron replied semi-proudly. "Well, here we are, again," dryly said Miles. SDCC-spoiler free. This is for the LJ 60 prompts in 60 days: Tower.


**Escape from the Hall of the Mountain King – Aaron's Tale**

Author's note: This originally came from my #ClaytonLives story, a story that suffered from a failure to launch, so I decided to re-work the basic ideas and here it is. This is for the LJ 60 prompts in 60 days: Tower.

Written before SDCC sizzle-reel was released so spoiler-free.

Some of these events are also shown in Miles' or Rachel's POV in Truth Takes Time.

Thank you to xyber116 for beta'ing this one-shot.

I don't own the characters or Revolution; I'm just playing with them for a bit for fun, not profit.

* * *

Aaron stared unblinkingly at the red tracing lines of the nukes' path in the central command control room. _Shit_. Rachel ran to the destroyed card access point and shouted, "There's no way in."

Aaron sat down heavily in the computer chair and stared at the monitor. _God, maybe the human race doesn't deserve power._ That gave him an idea – nukes needed computer guidance to direct them, right? If he turned the nanites back on, then with luck, the nukes would miss population centers completely. Hell, the ones aimed at Philly might land in the Atlantic.

He hurriedly typed out the restart command and watched the script iterate through on the terminal window. _Come on, come on,_ he thought. He sighed a huge breath of relief when he saw the blinking cursor indicating the script had completed. He turned around to the over-large screen in the other control room.

Miles and Charlie were staring at the screen as well. Charlie asked him with a voice laden with awe, "What did you do?"

The red tracing lines had stopped. Had stopped over the eastern seaboard and weren't moving. The intact satellites must require pinging or some other form of electronic communication to track the missiles. Aaron didn't know if he had saved the world, or merely changed who was dead.

Aaron replied, "I don't know, maybe saved hundreds of thousands of lives, maybe nothing, maybe nuked some poor unsuspecting, innocent farmers."

In a gesture that shocked Aaron to his very core, Miles walked over and placed one hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner. Aaron looked up into the face of the gruff man and he said, "You did good, _Chuckles_." Now, that was more in character.

Rachel returned from futilely attacking the other door, and hangdog look upon her face. She glanced puzzled at the two men, and Aaron replied semi-proudly, "I turned the power off again."

Rachel gave him a small smile and turned to the large screen, studying it intently.

Aaron caught Charlie and Miles exchanging significant glances, what they were communicating was beyond the ken of a mere Pittman, but Charlie turned and stomped out of the room, not acting like the 20-year-old she was. Then again, Aaron had always thought Ben babied his kids. When most of the girls her age were married with a baby on the way and maybe a toddler underfoot, Charlie still lived at home, with chores and a curfew. Aaron attributed this to Ben's need to keep something of Rachel's around, but then again, it turned out he really didn't know Ben at all.

As Aaron was pondering, Rachel emitted a surprised shout. Aaron glanced over to her, she was pointing to a monitor that had just died. He turned back to his computer monitor and watched code stream through his terminal. Someone was using _his_ backdoor to SSH into The Tower, _and_ they had released a virus that was corrupting all of the nanite code.

Rachel shouted something, followed by Miles and Charlie. Aaron opened up another terminal window, and encased in a cocoon of calm said, "If everyone could please stop shouting please."

Aaron traced the secure shell – which wasn't as secure as the other hacker thought – and located his IP address.

Aaron crowed in success, "Don't hack a hacker, buster!"

His exultation was short lived; however, when all the computer monitors and the lights, and even the faint hum of the ventilation system turned off.

"Well, here we are, again," dryly said Miles.

"What happened Aaron?" asked Rachel from right over his shoulder, she must have moved there while he was 'in the zone.'

"A hacker, from near Austin TX, released a virus into the nanite's code. Whatever was keeping The Tower immune to the effects of the nanites must have been corrupted," replied Aaron.

Aaron heard the metallic clink of flint on steel, and when his pupils adjusted he saw Charlie, over by the doorway, holding a small candle.

"Well, now what?" asked Rachel.

"I don't know, _Rachel_, know anyone else who deserves to bleed-out?" angrily retorted Charlie – yes, certainly not the behavior of a 20-year-old.

Rachel turned, her enraged face made even more threatening by the flickering candlelight. Aaron tried to meld with the office chair, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire between the Mathesons.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Miles as he stepped in between the two women, "Can we not do this now?"

They reluctantly nodded, the candlelight reflecting off of two stubborn faces.

"Thank you Miles, and I'm sorry…" said Rachel.

Miles abruptly cut her off with a terse, "Not now."

Rachel nodded, and Charlie said, "I say we get out of here, who knows what Neville is up to, and what the rest of the Tower people will do with us."

Rachel added, "And without the ventilation system, the oxygen down here will start to run out, especially if we keep burning those." She gestured at Charlie's candle.

Aaron gathered up his gear and the Mathesons gathered up their weapons, and Rachel led them to the elevator. Aaron pushed the button and they waited for a moment before Miles slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "No power, dummy."

The group chuckled without mirth and Rachel said, "It's a _long_ way up to the top of The Tower, especially with all the security switchbacks, and two hostile forces."

Miles nodded definitively and said, "I know a fast way out of here."

Charlie and Rachel turned to him expectantly.

He continued, "The water system."

Aaron could have sworn Rachel's face blanched, but that wasn't right – nothing scared this hardened, ruthless woman – must be the candlelight.

Miles led the group up to Level One, and Rachel had them stop at a janitor's closet along the way. She pulled out plastic trash bags to put their gear into, and poured out a 5-gallon jug of cleaner, resealing the empty bottle.

Aaron looked at her questioningly and she replied softly – probably so Charlie wouldn't hear – "I don't swim too well, never really learned."

Miles opened a door, and the hallway was filled with the sound of rushing water.

Aaron turned to Rachel and said, "What is this?"

Rachel replied, "This is a part of the Penrose River, diverted through The Tower, primarily to cool down the linear accelerator upstairs and its klystron, but it also supplies The Tower's water."

Miles stood at the door and waved them through, adding the unnecessary advice, "Keep your head above water and your feet out in front of you; it'll be bumpy, but don't hesitate to use your legs as shock-absorbers."

Aaron grabbed his pack firmly and stepped into the swiftly flowing river. _FUCK it was cold!_ Aaron had done some tubing before, and even in August the river was cold, but this was unbelievably frigid. At this moment he was glad about his extra weight. Everyone kept ragging on him about it, but it would help him… _oh crap!_ He thought as the water dropped out from underneath him.

* * *

Aaron stumbled up the gently sloping bank of the Penrose River, coughing up half of the river. You really shouldn't scream when falling several feet into deep water. Aaron's legs were numb and his fingers were locked around his pack. Aaron tried stomping his feet to begin to regain control over them, but it didn't help. He looked around, attempting to spot Charlie, or Rachel, or Miles, but mostly Charlie. The other two could take care of themselves quite handily.

Aaron couldn't see anyone downstream of him, and then turned around, looking upstream. _Ah ha,_ thought Aaron as he caught sight of Charlie several football fields away on another sandbank, with Miles. Aaron trudged towards them, watching Miles harry Charlie into getting up and walking about. Miles himself was doing jumping jacks. _Odd._ By the time Aaron's much beleaguered feet made it to the two Mathesons, Miles had put his coat back on, and slung the stolen militia gun over his shoulder.

Charlie gave Aaron a crystal-smile – that's what Aaron called her rare smile, and smile so perfect it reflected only the best of the world back like a perfect crystal.

Miles turned and asked, "Where's Rachel?"

Aaron smiled back at Charlie and just shrugged at Miles.

Miles said, "We should look for her."

Charlie whined, "Do we have to?"

Miles didn't respond and trudged downstream. Aaron suppressed a sigh; his legs were warming up and thus were prickling in a most painful manner, shouting at him to stop.

They walked along the river, sometimes along a sandy bank, sometimes on a small ledge above the waterline. Aaron lost track of time, but by the time only his toes were still tingly, they still hadn't found Rachel. Miles was on point, and both he and Charlie scanned the banks, looking for signs of Rachel.

Miles shouted and Charlie and Aaron ran towards him. He briefly pointed out the small huddled mass of Rachel washed up on the opposite bank, where the river made a smooth, long bend. She was still clutching the empty cleaner bottle. What Aaron could see of her face was blue, and he couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

Miles shoved his weapon and long brown coat into his face and raced into the water. The river wasn't more than calf-high, but it was so swiftly flowing with snowmelt that it pulled Miles' feet out from underneath him. Aaron watched him struggle with the current and finally made landfall. He trippingly raced along the sandbar and collapsed beside the huddled mass. He slapped her softly shouting, "Oh no, you're not getting out of this just yet. You are not leaving me too!"

Rachel sputtered, and looked up at Miles shivering. Rachel threw herself into Miles' arms and shook, whether from tears, relief, or cold, Aaron couldn't tell. Aaron looked away embarrassed. He couldn't remember a time Rachel had been that affectionate to Ben. Charlie looked away with a childish pout.

After a few moments Miles shouted, "So, you guys comin' or what?"

Aaron looked back, Rachel was standing beside Miles, both looking stoic.

"What do you mean?" Aaron shouted across the river.

Miles replied, "Well, Hacker-boy, this is the eastern bank and I figured we'd want to find out if you've saved the world – or Philly in any case."

Aaron vastly preferred Hacker-boy to Chuckles, but the fact that Miles still referred to him by nicknames rankled. Hadn't he proven his worth? Several times over in fact?

Charlie tried to ford the river, and just as had happened with Miles, and just as frequently had happened in Aaron's old Oregon Trail game, it didn't go smoothly.

Aaron watched Charlie flounder a moment and then began walking upstream a ways. He had remembered a point where the river fanned out a bit and was thus shallower. He packed Miles' brown coat and gun in his plastic bag, just in cases, and attempted to ford the river. He didn't get tripped up, and made it to the eastern bank without getting soaked again.

Aaron walked back downstream and rejoined the Mathesons.

"Where did you go?" Asked Rachel.

Aaron replied, "Didn't you ever play Oregon Trail on those old 8" floppies? You should always ford rivers at their shallowest point."

"Well then, come along then Hacker-boy."

"Actually, no. I'm sick of being treated like a pawn, a tool, for your Matheson machinations. I'm going to Austin to find out who used my backdoor to corrupt the nanites so I can turn the power back on, again. You can come with me," he gestured at all three of them, "but I am sick to death of secrets, hare-brained plots, and condescension."

The Mathesons stood around looking at each other. Charlie took a step towards him and said, "I'm with you; it sounds like a good plan. A _fitting_ tribute to Danny." She glared at her mother.

Aaron suppressed an eye-roll. They needed to work this whole thing out. Yes, Aaron was still pissed at Rachel for dragging him away from Nora, for never telling him the whole truth, for making him doubt Ben's friendship, but you didn't see him pout and stomp and mope.

Miles blinked and said surprised, "Actually, that is a good idea Hacker-boy."

Aaron worked up the courage – if he didn't do this now, he'd never have Miles' respect – and glared at him.

Miles coughed and said, "I mean, Aaron."

Rachel nodded and said, "No more secrets."

Aaron doubted that would be the case but smiled at his new fellowship. It wasn't exactly like The Lord of the Rings – Miles certainly made a good militant Strider, Rachel was as enigmatic as Gandalf the Grey, and Charlie might be Legolas – but Aaron certainly felt like a Frodo-less Samwise, and also thought second breakfast wouldn't go amiss. On the other hand, Miles could be Boromir and Rachel could be Saruman the White, and Aaron tried to forget his Lord of the Rings analogy as quickly as possible. His subconscious didn't help, bringing up pieces of information, comparisons, making Aaron doubt whether he was traveling with heroes or villains.

* * *

Aaron trudged along, shivering in the cold night air. Miles had herded the party south and east all day keeping his eyes peeled. Charlie was still moody, Rachel still looked like death warmed over, and Aaron still felt like one massive bruise.

Miles had kept them walking for at least an hour past dusk until he found a small gorge etched into the earth by a now dry stream. Miles gathered some grass and bits of brush and used Aaron's flint and steel to start a fire on a barren patch of streambed. Miles gave the still sulky Charlie his rifle and told her watch the camp. He told Rachel to tend the fire, which Aaron knew was just pretense for him telling her to stay by the fire and warm up. Throughout the whole day of walking in the high plains sun, she still didn't warm up, and she had lost her jacket at some point during her "try to blow up Monroe" trip. She must be frozen solid now.

Miles and Aaron had set off to find firewood, though Aaron doubted it would be easy to find in this arid prairie. Aaron saw a lot of sagebrush and prairie grass, but neither of those would sustain a fire for very long. Aaron stumbled onto a trail and walked along it. It was easier to follow and might lead somewhere with water or trees. Aaron wondered if the landscape would be this harsh all the way to Austin, or if his poor wind-burned skin would ever get a break.

After a few minutes walking along the trail, Aaron narrowly missed stepping in a pile of dried horse poop. Aaron sighed a breath of relief at the narrow escape and then thought back to the Oregon Trail. The pioneers used to burn buffalo chips when there wasn't any wood, and Aaron supposed the theory would be the same with road-apples.

Aaron sighed and bent down to pick up the "fuel." He hoped this selfless act would be appreciated by the Mathesons, but he doubted it. Aaron walked along the trail, gathering an armful of road-apples before turning around and heading back to the camp.

When Aaron walked into camp, he saw Miles and Rachel deep in conversation and Charlie standing some ways off. He saw a pile of sagebrush near the small fire. Miles turned to him and nonverbally questioned him about the road-apples.

Aaron responded to the inquiry with the obvious explanation, "I couldn't find any wood, and this is what the old pioneers used on the Oregon Trail."

Miles looked at him questioningly again. Couldn't the guy use his words!? Aaron suppressed a sigh and continued, "The real one, not the computer game, and they should burn better than sagebrush." Aaron gestured at Miles' contribution.

Miles nodded and walked off towards Charlie. Aaron dropped the "fuel" beside the fire and fed a few pieces to the fire. He muttered softly, "Oh, you're very welcome everyone, it was my pleasure." Aaron cleaned his hands off on his pants and then sat down across the fire from Rachel.

Charlie walked over to Aaron, after being relieved by Miles, and they talked briefly about the road ahead. Charlie was good company, when she acted her age, and for some reason the tension between her and her mother had eased a bit. Aaron tended to the fire once more before clearing a patch of ground and settling in for the night.

* * *

- Author's Note: Reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated :)


End file.
